Veggie Supreme Pizza

I made homemade bread last night. I have the recipe on my blog here. Now this recipe is very versetile but is an all day process. So be warned... It is so worth it. You can make this dough and freeze it, pre-bake some of the crusts and freeze them for another day.. What ever. So here is what I made.

Ingredients:

6-7 baby portabella mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 fresh roma tomato, sliced and then cut in half

2 cups fresh spinach

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozorlla cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3-4 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1-2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup to 1 cup of garden combination Ragu spaghetti sauce. (to create a light sauce layer)

1 pre-baked crust using my bread recipe

sprinkle parmesan cheese and italian seasoning

2 dashes of cooking white wine

salt and pepper

1/4 stick of butter

Directions:

After you slice all of your vegetables, set aside. In a small skillet melt 1/4 stick of butter, when nice and bubbly then add the mushrooms and onions. saute... while saute'ing them sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then add a dash or two of cooking white wine, continue to saute' until all the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated. Mushrooms will be a nice flavor and onions will have a translucent sheen. Set aside.

1. Spread lightly the spaghetti sauce, then sprinkle with minced garlic.

2. Add the mushroom/onion mixture, spreading evenly on top of the crust.

3. Next add the diced bell pepper and then layer the spinach.

4. On top of the spinach add the tomato sliced in a layer on top of the spinach. Next sprinkle with cheese on top.

5. spoon pieces of ricotta cheese on top of the cheese layer and sprinkle the chopped basil.

6. sprinkle with italian seasoning and parmesan cheese.

Bake in a Preheated 425F degree oven for 12-14 minutes until golden brown crust and melted cheese on top.

I only have three pieces of this pizza left that I'm going to have for lunch today. My husband ate some too... This was very tasty and beautiful. The bread recipe is very versatile and can be substituted for just about any kind of bread type item you want. I was cooking so much that my rolls went flat. So I baked them anyways and they will be turned into croutons with some olive oil and seasoning. Get creative and have fun. Let me know how you liked this pizza recipe :)

Enchirito's

Tonight I am making Enchirito's. Your probably thinking to yourself, "what the heck is an enchirito?". Well, I'll tell you. Back when I lived in West Virginia I used to buy this box mix that was from Taco Bell that was enchirito's. It came with refried beans, taco seasoning, flour tortillas and sauce. All I had to do was add beef or chicken. Then you would assemble and bake in the oven. I loved them, and then they stopped selling them. :( very sad! So now I have made my own. I am adding a few other ingredients to make it mine.

Ingredients:

10 flour tortillas (you may use less)

1 lb ground beef

1 can refried beans

1 can red or green enchilada sauce

1 can green chili's (optional)

1 medium onion

1-2 veggie pucks(optional - recipe for veggie puck can be found here)

1 package taco seasoning

2-3 cups shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven 350F.

Brown the ground beef, and onion. Then add the taco seasoning (like you were making taco's). Then add the veggie puck and green chili's. Set mixture aside.

On the flour tortillas spread 1-2 tbsp refried beans on the tortilla (enough to cover surface).

Then add 2-3 spoons of beef mixture. (enough to fill the middle of the tortilla,

then add a couple sprinkles of cheese.

Roll and set in a 13X9 pan. Repeat until full, may take 8-10 tortilla's depending on how full you make the tortillas.

Next, pour enchilada sauce on top. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake 350F oven for 25-30 minutes. Till bubbly and cheese has melted.

Serve Warm. with sour cream and other toppings such as lettuce, tomato, onion, olives, even guacamole. This is a yummy dish. Adding the veggie puck adds a nice added veggie and vitamin punch to the dish, they won't be able to tell.

I was able to make enough for two families=2 pans. I could have put them all in one pan, but realized I would have way too many leftovers. So I'm going to share the love. Give one pan away.

Broccoli Cheeseburger Mac

Tonight, my kids asked if they could have cheeseburger mac. I tried to think of some way to sneak in veggies into dinner that were not corn. Since that was the side dish they requested. I had some broccoli that I needed to use up from Bountiful Baskets. I had some bulk breakfast sausage and half an onion that I thought would be good and add flavor to the mac instead of just plain hamburger meat.

This was a delicious dinner, that had all the basic food groups in one dish. So yummy! I'm heading back for bowl number 2... Mind you, I didn't have lunch... So I'm a little hungry. This makes enough for company if your kids have friends over for dinner, and it's also good if you want leftovers for your spouses lunch the next day. This would be good re-heated and the next day. :)

Ingredients:

2 boxes Mac N Cheese

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup milk

4 oz velvetta cheese, cubed

3-4 cups fresh or one frozen bag of broccoli

1/2 onion

1 lb bulk sausage or ground beef

Directions:

Boil water in a large pot on the stove. As the water is boiling, dice the onion and cut up the broccoli... in a medium skillet add the bulk sausage and onions and cook until meat is browned and the onions are slightly transparent. Then set aside. In the water pot once it's boiling add the noodles from the mac n cheese box, holding out the powdered cheese to add later. Cook the pasta, about 2 minutes after you add the pasta, add the fresh or frozen broccoli to the same pot. Once the pasta is al dente or til desired tenderness drain the broccoli and pasta together. Then add the milk, velvetta cheese, powdered cheese, and all other ingredients including the sausage onion mixture and pasta broccoli. Stir until all incorporated and the velvetta is melted. Then serve.

This is SO DELICIOUS full of yummy vitamins from the broccoli and onions. Great flavor! no added salt, or pepper needed. Except to cook the noodles which adds flavor to the pasta.

* Make sure you salt the noodles when cooking them.

Vegetable Beef Stew

I'm using my slow cooker once again, I'm going to be using it more and more, since my school work is getting more intense and I'm volunteering more at the boys school. Tonight I am making something similar to my beef stew, but a little different. It is smelling delicious. I hope the kids are going to eat it since it's in my 6 qt slow cooker and that's a lot of stew. I maybe donating some beef stew to a family tonight.... hmmm, we'll see.

Ingredients:

-family pack beef stew meat

-1 prepackaged veggie medley (found with the salads - mine had cut celery, baby carrots, red onions and a bout 3 red potatoes) - I found this on sale for $.99 so I bought it and it saved me some cutting and time.

-1 pkg dry au ju seasoning mix

-1 pkg dry beefy onion soup mix

-5-6 red skinned potatoes , diced in to bite size pieces

-salt and pepper

-enough water to cover ingredients

Directions:

First open the pkg of beef stew meat, salt and pepper generously (while still in the package from the store). Next, In a large slow cooker preferably 6 qt, add the beef. Then add in the other ingredients. (with the veggie mix from the store, I just cut the onions a little smaller and didn't use the potatoes - they didn't look too good). Give the mixture a good stir and set it and forget it. If desired... Once it's been cooking 8-10 hours, you can thicken with potato flakes. ( add a little then stir, keep adding to desired consistency).

That's it, done... I'm going to serve this with some pillsbury rolls I bought on sale. This was an easy quick dinner, not a lot of prep or ingredients. Great for a cold day or even a long day. Enjoy :)

Breaded Scallops with a Creamy White Wine Sauce

My husband LOVES Scallops, I mean Loves! Almost to the point of obsession. We used to eat at this place called 220 Seafood in Winchester, VA. and he said they had the best AuGratin Scallops. He has been begging me for years to make scallops. I have never made them before in my entire life. I personally don't like scallops. I don't like the texture at all. So the thought of making them, makes me kind of sick. But I have been thinking about making him some, since we are land locked and finding a place that makes them to his tastes is hard, let alone expensive. So I saw some frozen scallops on sale at the grocery store when I went two weeks ago. I decided that I would make some scallops for my sweetheart for Valentines day. I was going to try to make Au Gratin Scallops, but on Valentines day I got worn out before dinner and we ended up eating a white bean chili instead (cooked in the crock pot all day). I also have been getting over a cold, so my energy level has been lacking. So adding a special meal after I put together the crock pot dinner for the rest of the family, just couldn't be done. So, today I felt a little better and didn't do much else today except study for my math final which is this week. So I had energy to make two different meals. (something I don't usually do for my family). My kids had Taco's and he asked very nicely if he could have scallops. So, Me being such a GREAT wife. I looked up a few recipes online on how to make scallops since I've never made them before. I checked out a few recipes on Allrecipes.com. I felt pretty well armed on how to cook some yummy scallops for my sweetheart! Here is what I did...

Ingredients:

Sea Scallops

1 1/2 cup italian bread crumbs

1 egg

1/4 cup or less half and half

2 pinches sea salt

8 twists of the pepper grinder

1/2 stick butter

4 Tbsp olive oil

16 oz sea scallops

Creamy White Wine Sauce

1/2 stick of butter

3 Tbsp All Purpose flour

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 1/4 cup half and half

1/2 cup cooking white wine

1 cup milk

2 tsp sea salt

2-3 twists of the pepper grinder

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Scallops:

The first thing your going to want to do is to get your scallops ready. In a small bowl blend the egg and the half and half, mix til creamy and light colored. In another small bowl add the italian bread crumbs, salt and pepper, using a fork mix. Pat dry the scallops with a paper towel. Then dip the scallop in the egg, and then roll in the bread crumbs, then place on a plate, not stacking. Do the entire batch of scallops. Set aside.

Cream sauce:

When you add the butter, add in the garlic (this will add a garlic flavor to the rue). Once the butter is melted and bubbly, make a rue adding the flour. Leaving the garlic in with the flour and butter. Cook the rue a little til a light nutty color to help cook out the flour taste. Then slowly add in the half and half, stirring constantly. Then let thicken still stirring constantly, this will take 1-2 minutes over medium-high. Then pour in the wine, parmesan, salt and pepper. and stir. Add milk if too thick, to thin to the consistency you want. Either remove from heat or, simmer on low.

In a skillet, add part of the butter and olive oil in the pan. When it bubbles and gets foamy, add the prepped scallops to the pan, Remember not to crowd the pan. Let cook 2-3 minutes per side. This will brown the coating and make it crisp. Not Burnt. If it is getting burnt either turn the heat down or you need to lessen the time your cooking per side. You can cook the scallops in batches. I think I ended up with 4 batches. Serve hot, and with the creamy white wine sauce.

Verdict!!!

I even ate these! Let me tell you... MMMM so good. They didn't taste fishy or funky. (which is my usual sentiment). My husband said it was Very Delicious! Do you know how amazing that feels. Making something the first time and it tasting very delicious, so good that even you'll eat it even if you don't usually eat it. I say that's a huge win. I made a rice pilaf to eat with this. It would have even been good with whole wheat pasta. The sauce is very rich and tasty, I think my husband enjoyed eating the cream sauce plain... I shared some of the scallops with my middle son. He LOVED them! This is a WINNER! This does not change my opinion of scallops, but if I ever make these again. This is what I'm going to make.

Creamy Pesto Shrimp and Spinach Whole Wheat Pasta

Tonight was Shrimp Pasta on the menu. I had some frozen shrimp to use. I wanted to use the shrimp and then looked up a few recipes online to see how other people would make shrimp pasta. I saw a lot of Alfredo and Linguini and a few pesto, even some with tomato stuff. So I had a lot of options to choose from if I was going to copy a recipe already online. However, I saw a recipe for creamy pesto, and I had a "lightbulb" moment. Don't you just love those... :) I sure do. So I read how they made it and then I realized I was missing a few items to make this and I had to go to Walmart to get a few uniform shirts for my son. So I picked up half and half and some parmesan cheese. That's all I needed for a delicious meal.

Long story short. I made up my own recipe. I have to say this is by far my favorite shrimp pasta I've made. What do you think?

Ingredients:

2-3 cups half and half

1 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 stick butter

4 Tbsp flour

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

3 cups fresh spinach

1/5 orange bell pepper, minced

2 fresh basil leaves

1/2 tsp garlic, minced

1 pkg Knoll pesto mix

60-70 medium shrimp (deveined, peeled, tails off, raw)

1-1lb package dried pasta of choice

Directions:

In a large pot bring water to boil, add salt and pasta, stirring, then cook til al dente. Drain leaving about1 cup of pasta water in the pot and place back on the burner. While pasta is cooking mix the following:

In a small sauce pan over medium heat add the butter and garlic. When the butter is completely melted and bubbly, add the flour (making a rue). Then gradually add in the half and half. stirring constantly. once thickened add the parmesan cheese and the pesto mix. Stir well. This should be fairly thick, if too thick, add more half and half or 2%milk to thin out a little. (don't thin too much). Once this is thickened and mixed together. Turn off heat.

Cut up the bell pepper, garlic and basil in a small chopper. Then add to the finished pasta along with the cut, fresh spinach. Then stir. Once evenly distributed add the shrimp. Cook until shrimp turns pink. Once the shrimp is pink, add the creamy pesto sauce to the pasta/shrimp/spinach mixture. Stirring over medium heat until slightly thickened. Then turn off heat and let set for 5 min. The sauce with continue to thicken. Then serve.

Believe it or not, this meal only took me 30 minutes to prepare and make. This is so good and full of vitamins. You can substitute milk for the half and half. But the sauce was delicious. I got all of my kids to eat their whole plates, My oldest had two plates full. That's huge! I was full with one plate since it's such a filling dish. This will have enough for almost 7 people with a hearty appetite. I hope you really enjoy this dish, as much as we did :)

Once the pasta is finished and the sauce is finished.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins with a toasted almond crumb topping

This evening we had FHE (Family Home Evening). We usually have a song, prayer, little lesson, another song, another prayer and a treat. So tonight I was doing my usual last minute "oh no... we need a treat" thing and going through my pantry. I know I'm the only one stressing over treats for the snack. But I know that is how I can get my kids to semi obey and behave for the lesson is if I bribe them with yumminess. Some times its just a cookie, or we go out to ice cream some place cheap. Or even have ice cream at home. Tonight however, I remembered I had bought on sale at Walmart some Pumpkin quick bread mixes. I didn't think they would quite go for pumpkin bread, so I was trying to think of something to do with the mix. When low and behold.... I found a recipe on the side of the box. I quickly read through the ingredients and decided I had everything I needed to make the side recipe, well all except the pecans (my husband is allergic to them). So I found some almond slivers and decided that if I ground them up smaller and toasted them... they would be DELICIOUS! I was so RIGHT!. They are so good. A nice nutty, toasty flavor is just what the doctor ordered. That way they are something (if my husband wanted some) would be able to eat.

Ingredients for cream cheese filling:

1 - 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened (i microwaved mine for 30 seconds to soften)

1 egg

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp lemon peel, grated

Ingredients for Muffins:

1 - 14 oz pkg Pillsbury Pumpkin Quick Bread mix

3/4 cup milk

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg

Ingredients for Crumb topping:

1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds (it originally calls for pecans -non toasted)

3 Tbsp melted butter

3/4 cup pumpkin quick bread mix

Directions:

Heat oven to 350F. Spray 12 muffin cups with no-stick spray.

Beat cream cheese with electric mixer in a medium bowl until soft. Add egg, sugar and lemon peel. Beat until smooth.

Empty pumpkin bread mix into a large bowl. Remove 3/4 cup mix and set aside for the topping mixture. Add milk, oil, and egg to remaining mix in large bowl. Stir 50 strokes or until blended no lumps.

Fill each muffin cup with about 1/4 cup batter. (a medium scoop works perfectly). Make indentation in batter with small measuring spoon sprayed with no-stick spray, Or just spoon on top. Put one heaping Tbsp cream cheese mixture in the center of each muffin.

Add melted butter to reserved dry mix. Stir with fork until crumbly. Add nuts (pecans or toasted almond). Crumble about 1 Tbsp over each muffin.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove muffins from pan. Place on baking rack to finish cooling.

The verdict... I ate 2... Braeden ate 2 and wanted more. So delish and tasty. If you like cheese cake and pumpkin quick bread. They are heavenly together.